Titans capture 1A title as Indians take third in 2A

Pontiac and El Paso-Gridley did not shoot as well on Day 2 of their restive IHSA state golf tournament. But the Indians and Titans both came away with trophies.

EPG got the major piece of hardware by capturing the Class 1A title by 11 strokes in the two-day event at Prairie Vista Golf Course. The Titans did it without the benefit of a top 10 player, thus showing the balance of a squad that tied for second place a year ago.

Pontiac had one all-state player leading the way to a third-place finish in Class 2A at Weibring Golf Course at ISU. It was the first trip to state for any PTHS squad in the long history of the state golf tournament.

Class 2A

Pontiac had a one-stroke lead over Dunlap at then of Friday’s play and led Rockford Boylan by two. Things changed on Saturday as Boylan got hot and Dunlap shot better than PTHS.

In the end, though, the Indians finished closer to first than to fourth. Boylan won with a 622 after shooting 308 on Saturday. The Eagles were second one stroke back at 623 and the Indians took third with a 629. Burlington Central was fourth at 637 and Peoria Notre Dame came in fifth with a 641.

“They worked very hard playing golf and getting to this point,” PTHS head coach Paul Ritter said. “Their goal was to get to the state tournament. To come out in the position we were in was just icing on the cake.”

Pontiac’s front nine was the problem on Saturday. Only Trent Smith broke 40 over the first nine holes. He shot a 38 while Kyle Eggenberger, Parker Tibbs and John Leverton each carded a 41. Raube had a 42 after a double-bogey on No. 9 and four other bogeys.

Ritter pointed out to the media over the weekend that his team tends to play a better second nine. This was pretty much the case on Saturday.

Raube came in with a 38 and Eggenberger fired a 37 to better their front nine totals. Smith was one stroke worse on the back but his 39 still impressive give the windy and cool conditions. Leverton shot 41 to match his 41 on the front. Tibbs had a 42 on the back after a 41 on the front and Hagen LePard had a 45 after shooting 43 on the first nine.

Danny Gorman of Boylan was the medalist with an even-par 142 for the two days. He won by one stroke over Matt Weber of Burlington.

Raube’s 152 was good for ninth overall — this coming despite shooting an 80 on Saturday. He carded a 72 on Friday.

Page 2 of 2 - Eggenberger was 19th overall with a 156 after shooting 78 each day. Smith finished in a tie for 23rd with a 158 and Parker Tibbs tied for 49th overall with a 164 as the three other scorers for the Indians.

Despite playing with an injured wrist, Leverton carded a 168 to tie for 66th. LePard had a tough day Saturday and tied for 81st overall with a two-day 171.

“We were consistent. The other two teams were able to turn it up a little bit,” Ritter said. “It’s not a downer to our kids. They worked very hard to put up solid rounds.”

Class 1A

The Titans had a little motivation coming into the weekend. After placing second in 2012, EPG was looking to move one place higher this year.

“They played well and got out in front of the pack,” EPG head coach Ken Colmone said. “I told the kids this tournament can’t be won on the first day, but it can be lost on the first day.”

El Paso-Gridley took a five-stroke lead on Friday and didn’t play as well Saturday but increased its advantage to win the state championship by nine strokes. EPG tallied a 331 Saturday to finish with a 647 total.

North Shore Country Day of Winnetka placed second with a 656. North Shore shot three strokes better than the Titans Saturday but was down 12 strokes after Day 1.

“We didn’t play our best golf on the second day but we fought off the cold and windy conditions again,” Colmone said. “We posted four decent scores to win the tournament.

“I thought our kids hung in there pretty tough. They knew they were not playing their best but grinded it out.”

EPG won the team title without having a player finish in the top 10 among the individuals.

Michael Mounce finished in a tie for 15th place overall in leading the Titans to a 647. Mounce shot 156 for the two days.

Kyle Colmone put up a 162 and Branden Mounce fired 163 as they tied for 30th and 33rd, respectively. The fourth scorer was Tyler Ramsey with a 166 that put him in a tie for 45th.

Brady Colburn shot 184 and Trent Zielsdorf had a 188 for the Titans.

With one state championship under their belts, Michael and Branden Mounce, along with Kyle Colmone and Colburn will be able to return to defend their title next year.